


You will always have me

by Waffleberry



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Canon compliant with spoilers for S3, S3 premise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-29
Updated: 2014-08-29
Packaged: 2018-02-15 06:30:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2219310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waffleberry/pseuds/Waffleberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver discovers Felicity has been hurt outside of Arrow activities. One shot for now.</p><p>I do not own these characters nor anything affiliated with CW's Arrow</p>
            </blockquote>





	You will always have me

**Author's Note:**

> This premise got lodged in my head and refused to move until I let it out. Hope you enjoy!

He walked through the door, shaking off the rain that clung to his jacket. The light creeping up from their new lair, still a level below the street entrance, let him know that one of his team members was there. It was a bit early, he thought. It was only four in the afternoon. From the whiteness of the light, he assumed it was Felicity. Had he expected her to be here so early, he would have picked up her favourite caffeinated beverage on his way in. Looking at the rain as it dripped from his hands, he reconsidered – he would have brought her a hot chocolate. Something to keep the cold and wet at bay. He moved easily down the staircase, listening for the familiar rapping of her fingers on the keyboard. It was quieter than usual so perhaps she was sifting through information rather than searching for it. It was good weather for reading, he thought. And for being inside and warm…and bathed in her brightness.

 

As his foot left the last stair, he looked up, a smile on his face, ready to add his vocal greeting to the one previously announced by his feet. That was when his gaze fell on the props and he froze, smile completely erased in the briefest of seconds. Neatly placed next on the floor next to her chair was a pair of crutches. He closed his eyes briefly, hoping against hope that they didn’t indicate the obvious but when he next opened them, he saw her cast resting on a makeshift footrest made up of a moving box and some sort of blue cushion. He inhaled slowly, trying to quell the worry inside him, trying to ignore the hundreds of disturbing scenarios running through his head, trying to prioritise the questions he would utter. The how was more important, of course, but the when really was really bothering him. How long had it been that he had not known about it? Hours? A day? It couldn’t have been more than a day – she had left the lair last night in perfectly good health (he always made sure of it) but how long had she been hurt and he had not known?

 

“Felicity?” he gently probed, his intonation speaking volumes, as it always did when her name left his lips. She turned around, a sheepish smile on her face.

 

“Hi, Oliver!” she responded, brightly.

 

He walked up to her then, crouching next to her chair as she swiveled to face him. His left hand instinctively reached for hers as his eyes traveled up and down her cast, noting the swollen toes peeking out. They were still painted with turquoise nail polish. For some reason, that made him feel less worried about her injury. He squeezed her hand reassuringly as he swept his gaze up to her eyes, the question still lingering in his. She smiled at him as she squeezed his hand in return, wanting him to know that there was no cause for distress.

 

“It happened at this morning.” He felt a bit better about that – that she hadn’t been suffering since last night without him being able to try to make it better. His heart filled with warmth at the fact that somehow she knew that was the first question he needed answered. He supposed that you didn’t spend the amount of time that they had together without being able to instinctively read the other person. “It was really quite silly, actually. I was hurrying to get into the car because I left the house without an umbrella – even though Ray mentioned that I should –“

 

And there it was, he thought. Ray had let this happen. To be fair, she was her own mistress and if she wanted to wander out into the rain without an umbrella, it was her life; it was her choice. Yet he couldn’t help feeling annoyed that after everything he had done to keep her safe, after everything he had sacrificed – his happiness, hers ; sometimes, he thought, his very soul – to ensure that she was whole , the man whose acknowledged and accepted responsibility it now was to protect her had failed.

 

“And I stepped in a puddle with my heels, which was much deeper than I thought it was. The puddle, I mean, not my heels. Which led to my ankle being twisted, which wouldn’t have been too terrible but it twisted awkwardly because, you know, that’s how it WOULD happen with me, and I ended up falling in the worst possible way and breaking a few of the bones in my foot.” She ended her self-deprecating explanation on a firm note, looking at her cast almost in derision.

 

“A few?” His eyebrows shot up. “A few broken bones?” His eyes locked on to hers, conveying his disbelief at her demeanour while her body had multiple broken pieces.

 

“Well, one broken one and a few fractures, to be honest. The doctor said it should take about a month to heal.” She looked at him while he examined her leg, lifting it gently and inspecting the wrapping, gently pushing against her toes to determine the level of damage she had inadvertently inflicted on herself.

 

“Oliver,” she whispered and he turned to her with the worry looming in eyes, turning them a darker shade of blue, “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s an injury that kids experience and recover from all the time. I will be fine. I promise.”

 

He nodded, then, letting her reason flow into him and dissipate the uneasiness that had been growing as soon as he’d known she was hurt.

 

“Did Ray take you to the hospital, then?” he inquired, needing rather than wanting to know that she hadn’t endured this on her own. Yes, she had suffered much worse injuries, like being shot by Tockman, but she’d had friends with her then; she’d had him.

 

“He did,” she assured him. “He stayed with me as long as he could but there was that investors meeting at QC so he had to leave to be on time for that.” Oliver looked at her and he hoped she was thinking what he was thinking – that he would have stayed by her side, meeting be damned. It wouldn’t have mattered if he’d been late – he did have a track record after all. Her lips curved as a thought crossed her mind and he had a good suspicion that he knew exactly what it was.

 

“How did you get here?” he asked, curious. He really wanted to know what happened after Ray left the hospital – he still didn’t understand how the man could have left her alone. Who does that? Especially to this woman?

 

“Digg brought me. He met me at the hospital and has sort of been looking after me today.” He shot her a questioning glance. So Diggle had known about this all day and hadn’t felt the need to inform him? He was going to have to have a chat with his other partner about what exactly their partnership entailed. She bristled at his expression on his features. “He was available and insisted it wasn’t a problem. After the hospital, he took me home where I tried to get the rest I was prescribed but I couldn’t. I guess Digg knows me too well. He called this this afternoon and said he would bring me here so I wouldn’t go stark-raving mad at home.” She smiled at her friend’s intuition, gratitude and warmth spreading over her face.

 

“How did you make it down the stairs then?” He proceeded with his interrogation, this ever burning need to know not leaving him. His thumb moved in patterns over her knuckles as he continued to satisfy his curiosity. He thought it was because he wanted to know that she hadn’t subsequently injured herself by not resting. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been there for her and felt that he should have.

 

“Gingerly,” she replied, her facing scrunching up at the memory. “And slowly.”

 

“Well the slow part’s good.” They shared a smile at his comment, both fully aware that he would always be concerned about her; he would always make her safety his priority. So much so that it had driven them apart. It was ironic, and ridiculous, really. But it didn’t change the way he felt. He let his right hand move to her face, gently cupping her cheek. He smiled as she leaned into his touch, a relaxed smile on her face. His thumb stroked her cheek, remembering the last time he had comforted her like this.

 

“Do you need any meds?” he asked, wanting to make her comfortable. He was sure this would be her location for the rest of the night and he wouldn’t have minded having absolutely no reason to go out crime-fighting that evening. She shook her head quickly.

 

“Probably not the best idea. You won’t want me loopy on a mission.” She winked at him and he beamed at her then, wondering at her ability to cheer him up when she was in pain.

 

They heard the beep of the keypad, followed by the opening of the door. Diggle’s voice wafted down the stairs to them. “I think Thai would have been better tonight, but I got your sushi, Felicity.”

 

Oliver stood, his fingers still interlocked with Felicity’s, loathe to disconnect from her and deny himself the little ability he had to comfort her now. With a last, lingering glance at her, he stepped away, moving towards Diggle as the latter entered the room. Oliver quirked his eyebrows at the other man as he rested the take out bags on a table.

 

“You and I need to have a chat.”

 

Diggle’s smirk couldn’t be reined in. “I kinda figured we might,” he replied cheerfully.

 

→→→→→

 

Oliver emerged from the lair’s shower to see Felicity’s feet resting on her desk while Diggle stood next to her, neatly placing items into her purse. They were laughing at something and his heart warmed at the sight of his team – alive, happy and together.

 

“That goes well with your jacket,” he addressed Diggle, nodding at Felicity’s dark brown purse.

 

Diggle snickered at that a little and Felicity flashed a full grin at him.

 

“Arrow got jokes, huh?” she commented in his direction. He returned her smile, basking in the beauty of it.

 

“Heading home for tonight?” he queried as Felicity made to stand, his heart breaking a little as he took in the delicate movements she made to avoid risking further damage. Every action was deliberate, slow, carefully planned. The calculation in her attitude was so unlike her that he ached, thinking how wrong it was for her to not be animated and full of lightness. He felt hollow as the

 

“Yep!” left her lips, for a reason that had absolutely nothing to do with her condition. He realised that he craved her presence, reveling in it, especially now that there was less of it since she had started a relationship with Ray. Naturally, she had been leaving to spend time with her boyfriend in the evenings. He could never admit this to anyone but himself – and perhaps Sara, who would understand – but he missed Felicity. He missed her so much that at times, it felt like he couldn’t breathe. His sun still shone brilliantly before him but he couldn’t envelop himself in her warmth. He had pushed her away and had no right to lament his loss.

 

Diggle had given her the crutches and was helping her set them up when Oliver suddenly couldn’t take it anymore. He hadn’t been there for her that morning but he could be there for her now. In one swift movement, he was suddenly at her side, left arm sweeping under her legs and right arm supporting her back as he gently lifted her against his chest. The squeak of surprise that left her only made him happier that he had done it. He smiled down into her startled blue eyes, not moving until her chin dipped with consent. The heat of her body seeped into him and he marveled yet again at the way she was able to soothe him just by being her.

 

Diggle shot him a warning glance which he half ignored, instead asking his friend to take the crutches and purse with him and hold the door open for them at the top. As they ascended the stairs, she looked up at him with a playful smile tugging at her lips.

 

“If I’d known this is what it takes for you to sweep me off my feet,” she whispered. He returned the twinkle in her eye, even as the sombre thoughts entered his mind. If only she knew. It would take a lot less for him to sweep her off her feet. A look, a glance, a touch from her and he was always lost. Her unwavering faith in him, her utter belief in him was enough to make him believe that higher powers existed and that their greatest achievement had been creating her. But it was this very thing he held – Felicity injured, Felicity damaged, Felicity hurt – that kept him from giving in to the desire that inhabited his being. The night he almost lost her would haunt him forever and would eternally be the reason he deprived them both.

 

She squirmed against his chest and he reacted instinctively, his lips brushing the top of her hair in an effort to placate her. In that instant, he knew he had to look after her, even if just for his own peace of mind. As he exited through the door, he turned to Diggle, suggesting “You head back to Lyla. I can take her home.”

 

There was worry in the look Diggle gave him, worry and a subtle threat. He understood it and tried to appease Diggle with the gentle shake of his head. For whatever reason, his friend decided not to argue. He walked with them to Oliver’s car, opening the door so Oliver could gently lower Felicity into the front seat and then left in his own vehicle after giving Felicity a quick kiss on her forehead with a wish of a restful night. He gave Oliver with one long, parting look to which Oliver responded with a slow nod of his head, conveying his understanding.

 

Oliver slipped into the driver’s seat, making sure Felicity was comfortable before starting the engine. She looked over at him, flustered for some reason, declaring, “You really didn’t have to, you know. Digg said it was no problem.” He looked into her eyes for a moment, trying to figure out what was happening behind them and let his lips curve upwards. “It’s no problem for me, either. Besides, he has a wife and baby to go home to and I,” his breath hitched in his throat, “I have…” He tore his gaze from hers, staring out the windshield as the sentence died on his lips. He hadn’t meant to make his justification so morose. He meant that he didn’t have anyone to go home to but that was only half of the story. The truth was he didn’t have her to go home to but he would willingly settle for taking her home, Ray or no Ray.

 

Her hands covered his instantly, her thumbs rubbing soothing patterns over his knuckles. “Oliver,” she breathed, her voice soft and so full of compassion that he didn’t know what to do with it. “Oliver,” she called again, a little more firmly, waiting until he was looking at her before she continued. “You are not alone. Ever. You will always have me.”

 

His fingers gripped her tightly, the warmth in his eyes letting her know how much he appreciated that she was still by his side; that he would forever be grateful for her love and caring. He turned away then, scared that their proximity, coupled with the emotions simmering just beneath his surface, would lead to him doing something with her he really shouldn’t.

 

Pulling out of the parking lot, he realised that her hand still was still linked with his and at that moment, he was relieved that he was driving an automatic vehicle; he wouldn’t have to break their connection for practical purposes. The journey to her house was no more than fifteen minutes long but by the time he rolled to a stop in front of her lawn, she had drifted asleep, head bent in his direction. He switched off the engine and looked longingly at her, wanting to tuck the errant strands from her ponytail behind her ear, wanting to feel the curve of her jaw against his hand again, wanting so much with her, always wanting… Oliver decided that he couldn’t deal with his yearning then; this was about her and looking after her like she constantly looked after him.

 

He attempted to disentangle his hand from hers without waking her. She stirred when she felt the loss of his touch and he tried to move quickly and quietly to extricate her from her seat. It wasn’t working, however. His body seemed to deliberately slow its own movements when near her, wanting to be as close to her for as long as possible. He slowly slipped his right arm behind her back, trying to move her forward just enough to gain a proper hold of her while his other arm came up beneath her knees. Touching her brought him such peace, igniting a flame at the same time, reminding him that she was home. He inhaled the gorgeous aroma of her – whatever perfume she wore that made him think of summer and citrus and freshness, mixed with her skin’s scent – letting it fill his senses until it was all he ever wanted to breathe.

 

As he stood up with her in his arms, she moved, a muted groan of protest leaving her.

 

“It’s okay,” he whispered, moving up the walkway to the front door. “I’ve got you.”

 

The light on the porch assaulted her then, and she became fully awake as it hit her face. The door opened and Ray stood there, smiling, eyes latching onto Felicity’s with a playful grin.

 

“Well look at you, Miss Smoak, having superheroes waiting on you hand on foot,” he teased in greeting. “Quite literally, I might add,” he finished as an eyebrow went up, indicating Oliver.She giggled and Oliver’s chest tightened at the easy playfulness that existed between them.

 

Ray inspected her cast, gently twisting her foot to determine its condition. “Seem to be doing okay,” he declared, smiling at his girlfriend. Ray then turned his attention to Oliver, a look of gratitude on his face.

 

“Thanks for holding down the Starling City fort tonight on your own. QC investors meeting went a little late – well no – a lot late. Thanks to the fact that we couldn’t decide what to get for dinner. Who would have thought investors would take that long to make a decision? I thought Diggle was bringing her home?”

 

Good Lord, Oliver thought, the man even babbled. “I thought I should so he could go home to Lyla and the baby.”

 

Ray nodded in approval. ”Couldn’t agree more. That kid is way too cute.” He moved aside to give Oliver room to enter the house. “You take her on inside – I’ll grab her stuff from the car. Couch or bed, hon?” he asked Felicity. “On second thought, nix that. I’m sure you need rest. Bed it is.”

 

Felicity nodded, smiling sleepily at him. “See you up there!”

 

Her words trailed behind them as Oliver turned and headed straight for the stairs, knowing perfectly well where he had to go. He suddenly wanted to leave – he wasn’t sure he wanted to be privy to this intimate look at their home life which made him feel like an intruder. It made him feel like he was looking at an alternate universe – looking at the life that could have been his and while he had consciously turned it down, he wasn’t ready for it to be thrown in his face. He wouldn’t ever be ready.

 

He entered her room and gently placed her on the bed, grabbing pillows and cushions to put under her cast while she settled herself. When he was satisfied with the arrangement, he stooped next to her, gazing up into her eyes to see how she was doing.

 

“You all right?” he asked, as his hand found its place on her shoulder. She nodded with a tired smile at him.

 

“Thank you for bringing me home – and for everything else tonight.”

 

“You don’t need to thank me, Felicity,” he admonished her, shaking his head. “I’m happy to do it. If there is anything you need – anything at all – just let me know, okay?”

 

“I will but I’ve got Ray here now so I should be all right.”

 

He gave her a half-hearted smile as he acknowledged the truth of her words, squeezing her shoulder before he left her room. He hesitated in the doorway, torn between wanting to care for her but knowing he didn’t have the first right to it anymore. He exited the house, giving Ray a mock tip of the hat in parting. He exhaled as he entered the car, turning the key in the ignition to start it. His eyes flicked back up to her window, slight worry and extreme longing coursing through him as the thought in his head made its way to his lips, leaving them in a whisper.

 

“But you will always have me, Felicity.”


End file.
